Tracking Reform
National Group Looks at Minnesota’s Reform Efforts
The National Academy for State Health Policy released a 60-page report in April that analyzes Minnesota’s health care reform efforts. Funded by The Commonwealth Fund, the report describes Minnesota’s reform efforts as more evolutionary than revolutionary but concludes that they do include the necessary elements for a real transformation of the state’s health care system.
The authors also said that Minnesota could be fertile ground for piloting accountable care organizations and that Minnesota’s chances for successfully implementing its reform vision would improve if Medicare were to join the state’s efforts.
The full report, “Reforming Health Care Delivery Through Payment Change and Transparency: Minnesota’s Innovations,” is available at www.nashp.org/node/1831.
Quality Improvement
Minnesota House Passes Peer-Grouping Bill
A peer-grouping bill supported by the MMA passed the Minnesota House in April by an almost unanimous vote.
The bill (H.F. 3056/S.F. 2815) would correct some of the flaws in Minnesota’s peer-grouping project, which is scheduled to start publicly reporting the cost and quality scores of hospitals and clinics by 2011. The bill includes the following:
- A new requirement that the peer-grouping data meet standards for reliability and validity before being released to the public;
- A repeal of language that precludes providers who score in the bottom 10 percent on the quality and cost measures from treating patients covered by state-subsidized health insurance programs, and
- An extension of the date health plans can start using the data to 12 months after it is publicly released.
Janet Silversmith, the MMA’s health policy director, says the bill is a step in the right direction. “The goal of our legislative effort has been to create stronger assurances for the development of valid and reliable information, to remove the punitive aspects of the initiative, and to have a more realistic legislative timeline. Getting this bill through the House brings us closer to that goal,” she says.
Process for Adding Quality Measures Outlined
The Minnesota Department of Health has released details about the process for including new measures in Minnesota’s statewide quality reporting system. Department officials will invite interested stakeholders to submit recommendations for new quality measures or modifications to existing measures by June 1 of each year.
For more information, visit www.health.state.mn.us/healthreform/measurement/adoptedrule.html.
MMA to Inform Peer Grouping Analysis
The MMA has been invited by the Minnesota Department of Health to serve on a rapid response team that will focus on key methodological issues related to provider peer grouping such as patient attribution to providers, physician attribution to clinic sites, resource use and price combination, composite cost and quality measure construction, weighting of individual quality measures, and treatment of outlier costs.
Representatives from the Minnesota Hospital Association, Minnesota Council of Health Plans, Minnesota Business Partnership, Minnesota AARP, and the Minnesota Department of Human Services are also on the rapid response team.
Health Care Homes
Health Care Home Conference Calls
The Minnesota Department of Health’s health care home team will be hosting conference calls and webinars every third Wednesday of the month through 2010. Each session will include a brief update on health care home implementation and a presentation on a certification-related topic. Providers can call in with questions.
More information is available at www.health.state.mn.us/healthreform/homes/events/confcalls.html.